Don't mention the F-word

“Fear grows in darkness;

if you think there's a bogeyman around, turn on the light.”

It's the most dreaded time of year - Halloween. Although I do have a friend that views this as the most wonderful time of the year, like a child in a sweetshop.

But when I was a child, Halloween filled me with fear. Not the fear of the bogeyman but the fear of public speaking. Dreading the moment when it was my turn to perform a party trick in front of neighbours in return for a bag of homemade treats - toffee apples, tablet, fudge, treacle toffee or, my favourite, puff candy.

After the first few gigs, I would overcome my fears and have my performance off pat. I'm sure the sweet rewards helped overcome my pesky amygdala. That's the thing about fear, no matter how hard it is conditioned, it is easily extinguished.

Researching my book "Slaying The Watermelon" surprised me how little had been written about fear, especially in the area of change management. Until COVID that is.

During the pandemic, it was well documented that fear was widely used as a weapon to drive compliance in organisations. Behavioural science tells us that compliance and rebellion are two sides of the same coin.

When the post-COVID light was turned on, the bogeyman was no longer around. For many, the fear of losing their livelihood, or their life, quickly subsided. The compliant children rebelled - quietly quitting and greatly resigning. Others remained in darkness - lighting up their days crafting pumpkin lanterns and munching puff candy.

Happy Halloween.

#psychologicalsafety #fearlessorganisation